One
of the biggest mistakes I've ever made was around the time ED 2 came out
in the theater. A friend and I were heading to the theater to see a movie,
and both ED 2 and “Return of the Living Dead 2” were playing. I
was dumb enough to allow my friend to talk me into seeing “Return 2”
rather than ED 2­—a mistake I have always regretted for two reasons:First and foremost, because I didn't see ED 2 on the big
screen, and second, because “Return 2” sucked royally!!! Sam Raimi was
able to inject a little comedy into ED2, fusing it with horror to come up
with a deadly mixture. ED is my all-time favorite because of the horror,
but I love watching ED 2, because it’s so damned funny. You can
definitely see the direction Raimi has taken the series, from true horror
in “Evil Dead,” to horror and comedy in ED 2, and finally to comedy
combined with horror in “Army of Darkness.” I think that this shift in
direction was a big mistake for Raimi, but I will get into that on the AOD
page. Watch this movie, Groovy.

The
movie begins with our hero, Ash (Bruce Campbell),
having survived his hellish night of battling the evil dead. Ah,
morning's here, time to escape. Wrong! Just as Ash is preparing to
leave, the last remaining demonic spirits rocket him through the
woods in a very comical scene. Crashing into a tree, Ash regains
consciousness only to be possessed by the evil dead, but eventually
the morning light chases these spirits away, sparing our hero.

Ash then falls unconscious, only to awake as
dusk is setting in. . . . ROUND 2. During the ensuing night, Ash battles
his dead girlfriend, his own hand (which he lops off with a chainsaw), and
more evil dead than you can shake a shotgun at. They are looking for fresh
souls. Who can stop these little bastards? I won't tell—but as you can
see, there is a sequel.

Remake,
sequel, or both? I would definitely say sequel. There
are two reasons why Raimi filmed the flashback sequence the way he did.
First, to bring those unfortunate fools who didn't see “Evil Dead” up
to speed, and second, because he couldn't get the footage from New Line.

The
top-most book Ash places on the bucket when covering up his
decapitated hand is "A Farewell to Arms."

The
movie tag-line read "2 Terrifying, 2 Frightening, 2
Much."

The
movie was filmed on the set of the "Color Purple,"
because the original cabin had been destroyed years before
by fire.

A
glove belonging to Freddy Krueger can be seen hanging near the
steps in one of the cellar scenes. This was done reciprocally,
in response to Wes Craven’s having used "Evil
Dead" on the TV screen in "Nightmare
on Elm Street."

Look
at how the necklace is laid out on the floor when Ash is
possessed the second time—like a skull. Pretty cool.